A Funny Flashback

I was fifteen, thousands of miles from home, and dealing with the oppressive Southern July heat. I was in Florida at a three-week summer music camp, and enjoying every minute of it, despite being at a super-strict Christian college! (I liked to call it Pensacola Concentration Camp)

Almost every evening in the cafeteria, I was in the habit of selecting a random table full of campers I hadn't met yet and dining with them, so that I'd keep on meeting new people. One night, as I left the food line and surveyed the available tables, I caught sight of one table with a girl, a short guy, a tall guy, and one empty seat. Perfect.


So I sat down, and the introductions began! "I'm Stephani," said the girl. The short guy chimed in: "My name's Keith, and this guy is Brenden." He pointed to the tall guy.

Now, I'm usually really bad at remembering names, and since camp was already almost halfway over, I was getting really tired of being forgetful. I was determined to remember THESE names, at least! So I mentally repeated to myself over and over, "Stephani. Keith. Brenden. Keith. Brenden. Stephani." The rest of the dinner was lighthearted and fun, and I made sure to use their names a lot. "So, what instrument do you play, BRENDEN?" "Where are you from, KEITH?"

And believe it or not, I had their names memorized by the end of dinnertime! I was so PROUD of myself! So for the next ten days of camp or so, I relished every opportunity to use this knowledge. Since I seemed to run into Brenden the most, he got to hear his name called a lot.

"How's it going, Brenden?" "Nice to see you again, Brenden!" From across the campus: "HI, BRENDEN!!!!"

So it was utterly crushing when he pulled me aside a couple days before the end of camp, and said, "Um, Keith calls me Brenden because he thinks I look like Brenden Frasier, the movie star. My name is actually Adam."


And that, folks, is how I met my husband.


I think his name is Adam. I'll never be quite sure.


Have a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow! Whether you have a sweetie or not, be sure to enjoy lots of chocolate! :-)

I actually still keep in touch with Stephani, whose real name is still Stephani. Thank God. Be sure to check out her blog!